BIAGGI STORMS TO SPANISH PODIUM
 Team
Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi charged his way
from the third row of the grid to grab second place in race
two at the Valencia World Superbike Championship fourth round
in Spain this afternoon.
The Italian stormed through the field, lap by lap, to fight
the leaders James Toseland (Honda) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
in the closing stages. He dived past Haga on the very last
lap and then attacked Toseland in the final few corners, but
just couldn't get past the Briton.
His tremendous performance in the second race was the highlight
of the day for the team after taking a hard-fought eighth
in race one.
Team mate Yukio Kagayama was a low scorer in both 23-lap
races due to his injuries and some tyre problems.
Local hero Ruben Xaus (Ducati) won the first race after a
terrific battle with Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and then Haga after
half distance. The Spaniard dominated proceedings after about
12 laps and took a comfortable win by nearly two seconds.
Bayliss took third, with Troy Corser (Yamaha) fourth, Toseland
fifth and Lanzi (Ducati) sixth.
Race one winner Xaus was again in contention in the first
half of race two but then was passed by Toseland and Haga
before succumbing to pressure from Biaggi on lap 16. Once
Biaggi passed the Spaniard, he set about reeling in Haga and
Toseland and managed to sneak past Haga when the Japanese
rider left a small gap three or four turns from the end. He
closed in on leader Toseland but the youngster held him off
to take the chequered flag by just over two tenths of a second.
Max Biaggi - Race 1: 8th, Race 2: 2nd:
"A mixed day but it is good to finish on an up with
a podium in the second race. Valencia is a very difficult
track to race at unless it is perfectly dry. When there are
damp patches around it is very tricky and you have to concentrate
100% all the time. I didn't have such a good feeling in the
first race - some of the problems that we've had all weekend
and also some other minor ones. We made some changes to the
bike for the second race - clutch feeling, a few clicks on
the suspension - and put on a harder front tyre and certainly
the tyres worked better, also possibly because the track was
completely dry. Starting from the third row of the grid is
always a challenge and I couldn't attack the first corner
because of all the cement dust there from a crash earlier.
That had left a lot of oil on the track and it had to be cleaned
and then cement dust put down. That meant there was only really
one line through the turn so I couldn't use a different line
and pass a few people straight away. I got held up by traffic
but I was pushing hard right from the start for sure. I kept
up a good fast pace and at the end I felt I could get past
Nori and that's what I did. I tried to catch James but just
ran out of time and laps, but I am happy to get second today
after starting from 12th place."
Yukio Kagayama - Race 1:15th, Race 2: 13th:
"Not such a good day for me today but I knew this was
going to be very hard before the races began. I am not fit
yet and the pain in my shoulders meant that getting the bike
to change direction was very hard - and painful! And Valencia
is quite a physically-demanding track so you don't get any
real chance to rest at all. Also, in the first race, we made
the wrong rear tyre choice and after 15 laps it was destroyed
and so I couldn't keep up a fast pace. We used a similar tyre
in the second race and it performed better, but there were
still a lot of slides in the last third of the race. In both
races, I got some false neutrals and that made life interesting!
After this weekend I need some rest and then I will be in
better condition for the next race in Assen. Unfortunately
it is in only two weeks time so I will not have much chance
to rest and then get fit, but I know that I'll be in better
shape than now."
WSB Results:
Race 1: 1 Xaus (E-Ducati), 2 Haga (J-Yamaha), 3 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati),
4 Corser (Aus-Yamaha), 5 Toseland (GB-Honda), 6 Lanzi (I-Ducati),
7 Fabrizio (I-Honda), 8 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 9 Brookes (Aus-Honda), 10 Rolfo (I-Honda). 15 Yukio
Kagayama(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra).
Race 2: 1 Toseland, 2 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 3 Haga, 4 Xaus, 5 Lanzi, 6 Bayliss, 7 Brookes, 8 Laconi
(F-Kawasaki), 9 Corser, 10 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki). 13 Yukio
Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra).
World Championship Points: 1 Toseland 151, 2 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 138, 3 Haga 124, 4 Corser 101, 5 Bayliss
90, 6 Lanzi 87. 14 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra) 27.
SUPERSTOCK 1000:
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavi Simeon crashed
six laps into the scheduled 13-lap Superstock 1000 race at
Valencia but was lucky to get a second chance as the race
was red-flagged due to a crashed bike in the middle of the
track.
Simeon got back on board his GSX-R1000 and rode back to the
pits and was able to start the second race where he put in
a fiery performance in the five-lap second part to end sixth
overall.
Aussie Mark Aitchison (Suzuki) took the victory when the
times of both races were aggregated. He was second in the
first race and his performance in race two was enough to ensure
the win by just over half a second. Second in the overall
times was Michele Pirro (Yamaha) with Nicolo Canepa (Ducati)
third.
Xavier Simeon - 6th:
"I guess I was a bit lucky today when the race was stopped
because that meant I had the chance to start again. I began
the first part with tyres for rain but the track started to
dry up. Normally it takes a long time for this track to become
dry so it was a bit of a surprise when it happened so soon.
Two laps later I had to go into the pits because it was becoming
impossible to stay on those tyres. I came back out of the
pits with a fresh tyre more suited to dry conditions and four
or so corners later I found a damp patch on the track and
crashed! I got back on the bike and fortunately was able to
take part in the restart. I wish the second part had been
longer than just five laps because I was catching the leaders
up and I'm sure I could have finished higher, maybe even on
the podium!"
Superstock 1000 Results: 1 Aitchison (Aus-Suzuki),
2 Pirro (I-Yamaha), 3 Canepa (I-Ducati), 4 Baiocco (I-Yamaha),
5 Dionisi (I-Suzuki), 6 Xavi Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra).
Championship Points (after 2 rounds): 1
Canepa 41, 2 Aitchison 38, 3 Corti 25, 4 Baiocco 24, 5 Dionisi
21, 6 Pirro 20, 7 Xavi Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
19.
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